Event Marks One Year Since US Embassy Move to Jerusalem

ICEJ News Briefs

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman was a guest of honor Tuesday evening at events to mark the one-year anniversary of its opening. During his remarks, Friedman said, among other things, that the US had “created a new shrine in the ancient city of Jerusalem, and we’re extremely proud of it.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also a guest of honor at the event, saying during his remarks that the Jewish people are “the only people on Earth who live in the same land where they lived 3,000 years ago, with the same capital, the same language and the same religion.”

However, he lamented, despite the Millenia-old connection between the Jewish People and the city of Jerusalem, “nobody moves the embassy, nobody recognizes Jerusalem – until someone comes who is politically incorrect, brash and unabashed, and one day – out of the blue – says, ‘That’s right, Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and I recognize it.’ And that is what [US] President Donald Trump did.”

Here are the videos of the speeches made by Netanyahu and Friedman

BDS Movement Suffers Major Defeat

The movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel suffered another defeat this week when UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca signed an agreement with the Economy Ministry aimed at increasing investments in biomedical innovation and research conducted in the Jewish State. “There is a lot of interest from the British side to engage with Israel, aware of the opportunities of Israeli innovation,” Dr. Samuel Cronin, UK Israel Tech Hub healthcare innovation manager, told The Jerusalem Post. “On the other side, we’re seeing a lot of interest from the Israeli companies going more and more toward the UK.”

Here is a video showing yet another setback for the BDS movement

Israel Making Outsized Contribution to Sports Research

The 1st conference of the Israeli Olympic Sports Research Center began Wednesday at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. The purpose of the conference is to explore ways for technological innovation to assist athletes and trainers to enhance their performance and reduce injuries related to sports and athletics. Leading experts in the fields of sports medicine, computer science and engineering, along with Israeli Olympic athletes, are scheduled to attend.

Madonna Intends to Sing at Eurovision in Tel Aviv

Pop superstar Madonna landed in Israel Tuesday, expressing her intention to make a guest appearance at the Eurovision song contest later this week despite intense pressure from the BDS campaign. The arrival was good news for the contest which has seen some setbacks in its initial days, with the webcast of a semi-final competition Tuesday evening being disrupted for several minutes in a hack being blamed on the Islamist terror militia Hamas and the accidental death of an employee on Tuesday morning.